Prepress Technicians and Workers

Most prepress technician jobs now require formal postsecondary
graphic communications training in the various types of computer
software used in digital imaging.

Employment is projected to decline as the increased use of
computers in typesetting and page layout requires fewer prepress
technicians.

Nature of the Work

The printing process has three stages—prepress, press, and binding
or postpress. In small print shops, job printers are usually
responsible for all three stages. They check proofs for errors
and print clarity and correct mistakes, print the job, and attach
each copy’s pages together. In most printing firms, however, each
of the stages is the responsibility of a specialized group of
workers. Prepress technicians and workers are responsible
for the first stage, preparing the material for printing presses.
They perform a variety of tasks involved with transforming text
and pictures into finished pages and making printing plates of
the pages.

Advances in computer software and printing technology continue
to change prepress work. Most customers today are able to provide
printers with pages of material that look like the desired finished
product they want printed and bound in volume. Using a process
called “desktop publishing,” customers are increasingly using
their own computers to do much of the typesetting and page layout
work formerly done by designers on artboards. Much of this work
is now done by desktop publishers or graphic designers with knowledge
of publishing software. (Sections on desktop publishers and graphic
designers appear elsewhere in the Handbook.) It is increasingly
common for prepress technicians or other printing workers to receive
files from the customer on a computer disk or submitted electronically
via e-mail or “file transfer protocol”, known as “ftp”, that contains
typeset material already laid out in pages.

Prepress work is now done with the use of digital imaging technology
by prepress technicians known as “preflight technicians” or production
coordinators. Using this technology, these technicians take the
electronic files received from customers, check it for completeness,
and format it into pages using electronic page layout systems.
Even though the pages may already be laid out, they still may
have to be formatted to fit the dimensions of the paper stock
to be used. When color printing is required, the technicians use
digital color page-makeup systems to electronically produce an
image of the printed pages, then use off-press color proofing
systems to print a copy, or “proof,” of the pages as they will
appear when printed. The technician then has the proofs delivered
or mailed to the customer for a final check. Once the customer
gives the “OK to print,” technicians use laser “imagesetters”
to expose digital images of the pages directly onto thin aluminum
printing plates.

Platemakers for a long time used a photographic process
to make printing plates. The flat, a layout sheet onto which a
negative has been attached, was placed on top of a thin metal
plate coated with a light-sensitive resin. Exposure to ultraviolet
light activated the chemical in parts of the plate not protected
by the film’s dark areas. The plate was then developed in a solution
that removes the unexposed nonimage area, exposing bare metal.
The chemical on areas of the plate exposed to the light hardened
and became water repellent. The hardened parts of the plate form
the text and images to be printed. Now, the printing industry
has largely moved to technology known as “direct-to-plate”, by
which the prepress technicians send the data directly to a plating
system, by-passing the need for stripping film onto a flat.

During the printing process, the plate is first covered with
a thin coat of water. The water adheres only to the bare metal
nonimage areas, and is repelled by the hardened areas that were
exposed to light. Next, the plate comes in contact with a rubber
roller covered with oil-based ink. Because oil and water do not
mix, the ink is repelled by the water-coated area and sticks to
the hardened areas. The ink covering the hardened text is transferred
to paper.

Working Conditions

Prepress technicians and workers usually work in clean, air-conditioned
areas with little noise. Some workers may develop eyestrain from
working in front of a video display terminal, or musculoskeletal
problems such as backaches. Those platemakers who still work with
toxic chemicals face the hazard of skin irritations. Workers are
often subject to stress and the pressures of short deadlines and
tight work schedules.

Prepress employees usually work an 8-hour day. Some workers—particularly
those employed by newspapers—work night shifts, weekends, and
holidays.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Digital imaging technology has largely replaced cold type print
technology. Instead of painstakingly taping pieces of photographic
negatives to flats, today’s prepress technicians use computer
software skills to electronically modify and lay out the material;
in some cases, the first time the material appears on paper is
when the final product rolls off the printing press. Traditionally,
prepress technicians and workers started as helpers and were trained
on the job, with some jobs requiring years of experience performing
the detailed handwork to become skillful enough to perform even
difficult tasks quickly. Today, persons seeking to enter prepress
technician jobs require formal postsecondary graphic communications
training in the various types of computer software used in digital
imaging.

Postsecondary graphic communications programs are available from
a variety of sources. For beginners, 2-year associate degree programs
offered by community and junior colleges and technical schools,
and some 4-year bachelor’s degree programs in graphic design colleges
teach the latest prepress skills and allow students to practice
applying them. However, bachelor’s programs usually are intended
for students who may eventually move into management positions
in printing or design jobs. Community and junior colleges, 4-year
colleges and universities, vocational-technical institutes, industry-sponsored
update and retraining programs, and private trade and technical
schools all also offer prepress-related courses for workers who
do not wish to enroll in a degree program. Many workers with experience
in other printing jobs take a few college graphic communications
courses to upgrade their skills and qualify for prepress jobs.
Prepress training designed to train skilled workers already employed
in the printing industry also is offered through unions in the
printing industry. Many employers view individuals with a combination
of experience in the printing industry and formal training in
the new digital technology as the best candidates for prepress
jobs. The experience of these applicants in printing press operator
or other jobs provides them with an understanding of how printing
plants operate, familiarizes them with basic prepress functions,
and demonstrates their reliability and interest in advancing in
the industry.

Employers prefer workers with good communication skills, both
oral and written, for prepress jobs. Prepress technicians and
workers should be able to deal courteously with people because,
when prepress problems arise, they sometimes have to contact the
customer to resolve them. Also, in small shops, they may take
customer orders. Persons interested in working for firms using
advanced printing technology need to know the basics of electronics
and computers. Mathematical skills also are essential for operating
many of the software packages used to run modern, computerized
prepress equipment. At times, prepress personnel may have to perform
computations in order to estimate job costs.

Prepress technicians and workers need good manual dexterity,
and they must be able to pay attention to detail and work independently.
Good eyesight, including visual acuity, depth perception, field
of view, color vision, and the ability to focus quickly, also
are needed assets. Artistic ability is often a plus. Employers
also seek persons who possess an even temperament and an ability
to adapt, important qualities for workers who often must meet
deadlines and learn how to use new software or operate new equipment.

Employment

Prepress technicians and workers overall held about 141,000 jobs
in 2004. Of these, approximately 63,000 were employed as job printers;
the remainder was employed as prepress technicians and other prepress
workers. Most prepress jobs are found in the printing industry,
while newspaper publishing employs the second largest number of
prepress technicians and workers.

The printing and publishing industries are two of the most geographically
dispersed in the United States, and prepress jobs are found throughout
the country. However, jobs are concentrated in large metropolitan
areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles–Long Beach, New York City,
Minneapolis–St. Paul, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC.

Job Outlook

Overall employment of prepress technicians and workers is expected
to decline through 2014. Demand for printed material should continue
to grow, spurred by rising levels of personal income, increasing
school enrollments, higher levels of educational attainment, and
expanding markets. But the use of computers and publishing software—often
by the clients of the printing company—will result in rising productivity
of prepress technicians.

Computer software now allows office workers to specify text typeface
and style, and to format pages at a desktop computer terminal,
shifting many prepress functions away from the traditional printing
plants into advertising and public relations agencies, graphic
design firms, and large corporations. Many companies are turning
to in-house desktop publishing as page layout and graphic design
capabilities of computer software have improved and become less
expensive and more user-friendly. Some firms are finding it less
costly to prepare their own newsletters and other reports than
to send them out to trade shops. At newspapers, writers and editors
also are doing more composition using publishing software. Rapid
growth in the use of desktop publishing software already has eliminated
most prepress typesetting and composition technician jobs associated
with the older technologies, such as cold-type. However, opportunities
will be favorable for prepress technicians with strong computer
skills, such as preflight technicians, who are employed to check
materials prepared by clients and adapt it for printing.

In order to compete in the desktop publishing environment, commercial
printing companies are adding desktop publishing and electronic
prepress work to the list of services they provide. Electronic
prepress technicians, digital proofers, platemakers, and graphic
designers are using new equipment and ever-changing software to
design and layout publications and complete their printing more
quickly. The increasing range of services offered by printing
companies using new digital technologies mean that opportunities
in prepress work will be best for those with computer backgrounds
who have completed postsecondary programs in printing technology
or graphic communications. Workers with this background will be
better able to adapt to the continuing evolution of publishing
and printing technology.

Earnings

Median hourly earnings of prepress technicians and workers were
$15.30 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $11.69
and $20.01 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.06,
and the highest 10 percent earned more than $24.82 an hour.

For job printers, median hourly earnings were $15.41 in May 2004.
The middle 50 percent earned between $12.00 and $20.04 an hour.
The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.57, while the highest
10 percent earned more than $24.05 an hour.

Median hourly earnings in commercial printing, the industry employing
the largest number of prepress technicians and workers, were $15.91
in May 2004, while the figure for these workers in the newspaper,
periodical, and book publishing industry was $14.22 an hour. For
job printers, median hourly earnings in commercial printing in
May 2004 were $15.67, while in the newspaper, periodical, and
book publishing industry median hourly earnings were $15.63.

Wage rates for prepress technicians and workers vary according
to occupation, level of experience, training, location, size of
firm, and union membership status.

Related Occupations

Prepress technicians and workers use artistic skills in their
work. These skills also are essential for artists and related
workers, graphic designers, and desktop publishers. Moreover,
many of the skills used in Web site design also are employed in
prepress technology.

In addition to typesetters, other workers who operate machines
equipped with keyboards include data entry and information processing
workers. Prepress technicians’ work also is tied in closely with
that of printing machine operators, including job printers.

Sources of Additional Information

Details about training programs may be obtained from local employers
such as newspapers and printing shops, or from local offices of
the State employment service.

For information on careers and training in printing and the graphic
arts, write to: